第一章

　　A squat grey building of only thirty-four stories.

　　一幢灰白色的大楼，矮矮的，只有三十四层。

　　Over the main entrance the words, central london hatchery and conditioning centre, and, in a shield, the World State's motto,community,identity,stability.

　　门口大书：中央伦敦孵化与条件设置中心，盾式的图案上是世界国的格言：社会，本分，稳定。

　　The enormous room on the ground floor faced towards the north.

　　底楼的巨大厅堂面对着北方。

　　Cold for all the summer beyond the panes, for all the tropical heat of the room itself, a harsh thin light glared through the windows,

　　尽管对夏天而言窗户外已经很冷，室内却热得像赤道。薄薄一道森严的光耀眼地射进了窗户，

　　hungrily seeking some draped lay figure, some pallid shape of academic goose-flesh, but finding only the glass and nickel and bleakly shining porcelain of a laboratory.

　　渴望搜索出什么苍白的、长鸡皮疙瘩的穿便衣的非专业人员的形象，却只找到了实验室的玻璃器、镀镍柜橱和闪着凄凉的光的陶瓷。

　　Wintriness responded to wintriness. The overalls of the workers were white, their hands gloved with a pale corpse-coloured rubber.

　　对荒凉的反应还是荒凉。工人穿的大褂是白色的，手上戴的橡胶手套死尸般煞白。

　　The light was frozen, dead, a ghost.

　　光线冻住了，冻死了，成了幽灵，

　　Only from the yellow barrels of the microscopes did it borrow a certain rich and living substance,

　　只有在显微镜黄色的镜头下，才找到了某种丰腴的有生命的物质。

　　lying along the polished tubes like butter, streak after luscious streak in long recession down the work tables.

　　那东西在镜头下浓郁得像奶油，躺在实验桌一排排擦得银亮的漂亮的试管里，向辽远处伸展开去。

　　"And this," said the Director opening the door, "is the Fertilizing Room."

　　“这里，”主任开了门说，“就是孕育室。”

　　Bent over their instruments, three hundred Fertilizers were plunged, as the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning entered the room,

　　孵化与条件设置中心主任进屋时三百个孕育员身子都俯在仪器上。

　　in the scarcely breathing silence, the absent-minded, soliloquizing hum or whistle, of absorbed concentration.

　　有的不声不气，全神贯注，几乎大气不出；有的则。已不在焉地自语着，哼着，吹着口哨。

　　A troop of newly arrived students, very young, pink and callow, followed nervously, rather abjectly, at the Director's heels.

　　一群新来的学生低声下气地跟在主任身后，有些紧张。他们全都非常年轻，红扑扑的脸蛋，乳臭未干。

　　Each of them carried a notebook, in which, whenever the great man spoke, he desperately scribbled. Straight from the horse's mouth.

　　每个人都拿着一个笔记本，那大人物说一句他们就拼命地记一句——从“大人物那里”直接受教是一种难得的特权。

　　It was a rare privilege. The D. H. C. for Central London always made a point of personally conducting his new students round the various departments.

　　中央伦敦孵化与条件设置中心主任对亲自带领新生参观各个部门特别重视。

　　"Just to give you a general idea," he would explain to them.

　　“这只是给你们一个全局的印象。”他向他们解释。

　　For of course some sort of general idea they must have, if they were to do their work intelligently–though as little of one, if they were to be good and happy members of society, as possible.

　　因为既然需要他们动脑筋工作，就得让他们了解一些全局，尽管他们如果想成为良好的社会成员过幸福的日子，还是知道得越少越好。

　　For particulars, as every one knows, make for virture and happiness; generalities are intellectually necessary evils.

　　具体细节通向品德与幸福，而了解全局只是必不可少的邪恶，这个道理凡是聪明人都是明白的。

　　Not philosophers but fretsawyers and stamp collectors compose the backbone of society.

　　因为形成社会脊梁的并不是哲学家，而是细木工和玩集邮的人。

　　"To-morrow," he would add, smiling at them with a slightly menacing geniality, "you'll be settling down to serious work.

　　“明天”主任总对他们微笑，亲切而略带威胁他说，“你们就要安下心来做严肃的工作了。

　　You won't have time for generalities.

　　你们不会有多少时间了解全局的。而同时……。”

　　Meanwhile …" Meanwhile, it was a privilege. Straight from the horse's mouth into the notebook.

　　而同时，从大人物的嘴直接到笔记本也是一种特权。

　　The boys scribbled like mad.

　　孩子们发狂地记着笔记。

　　Tall and rather thin but upright, the Director advanced into the room.

　　主任往屋里走去。他身材修长，略显瘦削，身板挺直。

　　He had a long chin and big rather prominent teeth, just covered, when he was not talking, by his full, floridly curved lips.

　　长长的下巴，相当突出的大门牙，不说话时两片嘴唇勉强能包住，嘴唇丰满，曲线好看。

　　Old, young? Thirty? Fifty? Fifty-five? It was hard to say.

　　他究竟是老还是年轻？是三十岁还是五十岁？或是五十五岁？很难讲。

　　And anyhow the question didn't arise; in this year of stability, A. F. 632, it didn't occur to you to ask it.

　　不过，在这个安定的年代，福帝纪元六三二年，并没有谁会想到去问一问。